Fight or Flight
by FireAndBlood10
Summary: AU. Best friends Beca and Jesse are on the run from their past and the people who forced them to leave it behind. While on the road, they run into two girls. Little do they know, their fates are intertwined. With people coming at them from all angles, they will have to rely on each other, and a few other interesting characters, to survive. Contains Bechloe, Jaubrey and Superpowers.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Perfect.**

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She sits in the passenger seat of a silver 2004, Saturn, eyes hidden behind a black pair of Rey Bands she stole in a small town, about a 45 minute drive from where they were right now. She presses her forehead against the window, boredom becoming a very prevalent thing on her mind. Boredom; boredom and corn. "This is like the millionth corn field we've passed in the past 5 minutes." She says irritation evident in her voice. It's not that she hates corn. It's the fact that corn fields are monotonous, always doomed to look alike and to seem never ending. She doesn't hate monotony either. She just gets bored easily, whether it's sitting in the car or watching the entirety of a movie. Nothing holds her attention for long.

"What do you have against corn Becs? What did corn ever do to you?" The driver of their new car and Beca's best friend asks her. He has a playful smile on his lips and she can tell the teasing is coming on full blast.

"It's just so boring." She whines, which almost everyone who knows her would say is very uncharacteristic. But not Jesse. He's the one and only person she's ever felt like she could completely be herself around; drop the walls she built up.

"You think everything's boring, _Rebecca_. Hell you even think I'm boring and I'm, very clearly, awesome."

"You can't see under my badass new sunglasses, but I'm rolling my eyes you, narcissist." Beca replies holding up her middle finger.

"Ok the eye rolling I get, but what did I do to deserve THE middle finger? Oh god, I'm getting flashbacks to middle school. Beca I need you to take the wheel." Jesse says covering his eyes with his hands, the grin plastered on his face never faltering. Jesse has always been a great driver. His reflexes are faster than almost anyone's in the whole world. Everything he does is always a little faster, whether he means it to be or not. But in this exact moment, it might as well be a four year old driving due to the lack of focus he is putting into it.

"Dude, what the hell, drive the damn car!" Beca yells, as she looks around, letting out a breath, thankful there's no one in site. That has been the constant in their drives. They always keep off the main roads; it helps them stay out of site. Because of this, there are never any cars around, or people typically, which means they usually have the road to themselves.

"Beca take the wheeeeellllllll, take it from my hands!" Jesse half yells half sings as the car starts to drift into the other lane.

"Jesse seriously!"

"Cause I can't do this ooooon my ooooown!"

Before they completely go off road, Beca reaches over to the wheel and jerks the car back into their lane. "I'm letting goooooooo." Beca finishes the song and her warning as she releases her hold on the wheel. Jesse just laughs and resumes driving the car.

"Listen up, Carrie Underwood. Next time, I drive." She says with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. Jesse looks her way and flashes a smile.

"Mooooom can we listen to the radio?" He asks sounding as childish as humanly possible. Beca can tell he's just trying to get on her nerves now. She believes that ever since they became friends five years ago, that has been his sole mission. He tries to piss her off as much as humanly possible. Unfortunately for her, he is incredibly good at it. He possesses a certain knack for it.

"Are you going to know all the words to every songs that comes on?"

"Yea, and I'm going to sing them very, very loudly."

"Then no." Beca replies. They have been driving for 8 hours and the radio's been on for 6. She's enjoying her peace and quiet. It isn't that Jesse is a bad singer, in fact he's great. If it hadn't been for the incident, he probably could have made it on Broadway. However, Beca would take boredom over shear annoyance any day. If she had to listen to him belt out some Mariah Carrey chart topper one more time, she might strangle him.

"Awe come on Becs, you've got your corn, let me have my music." He pleads. She debates for a second then finally relents. As soon as he gets her response, he's turning on the radio and looking for the classic rock station. Kansas's "Carry on My Wayward Son" comes on and Jesse cranks the volume up. To Beca's dismay, the speakers on the old car are surprisingly good.

"Carry On my wayward son"

Jesse belts out the opening lyric while looking at Beca, who tries to hold in her smile.

"There'll be peace when you are done,

Lay your weary head to rest,

Don't you cry no more."

And that's when the guitar hits. Jesse plays the air guitar, doing his best to make the noises that accompany it, all while attempting to pay attention to road. "Wow, you should definitely quit your day job and make that a career." Beca says sarcasm dripping in her voice.

"I already quite my day job, does that mean I'm half way there?" He counters.

Beca just rolls her eyes and turns her attentions to her passenger side window. The car is coming up around a bend and Jesse looks up for a seconds before resuming his air guitar. Beca looks away from her window, which she just drew a frowny face on using her breath and finger, to the road ahead of them. There is a red headed woman standing in the middle waving her hands in the air and Beca realizes all too late that her friend is not paying any attention to what is going on in front of them.

"Jesse!" She yells and he looks up annoyed. However, his face quickly changes to panic when he sees what is going on in front of him. He slams on the break and is about to jerk the wheel, but it's already moving to the right. Before he even knows what's happening, they are sitting in a field of corn with steam coming out of the hood of the engine.

"I-I didn't turn the wheel." Jesse stutters. Beca takes a minute to asses herself and the damage done to the car. She cannot tell for sure from inside, but it's more than likely totaled. She curses under her breath and undoes her seatbelt.

"Jesse are you ok?" She asks turning to her best friend. His face is as pale as a ghost and he seems more than a little bit confused. His hands are in a death grip around the steering wheel and his knuckles are white.

"Beca I didn't turn the wheel. I almost killed someone. I didn't turn the wheel but here we are. How did we get here?" He asks and she can tell he is more than a little shaken, but otherwise ok. She thanks the bad manufacturing of this vehicle for not deploying the airbags and then remembers the red head in the middle of the road.

"Shit." She mumbles forgetting the car and Jesse while she tries to open her door. Its stuck shut, probably bent that way from their wreck. Beca simply puts a little more strength into her push and manages to get the door, that normally would have had to be cut off, open with ease. She exits the car and looks to the street. The girl is laying on her back, towards the left side of the road, propped up on her elbows. There is a blond woman who is kneeling next to her and seems to be fanatically assessing her friend.

As Beca begins to near them, she catches their conversation. "Oh my god, Chloe are you sure you're ok?" The blond asks panic clear in her voice. The read head, named Chloe, Beca assumes, just giggles and begins to get up off the ground. Dusting herself off, she smiles and says, "Bree you need to stop worrying so much. You look like you're going to stress puke or something. Everything is fine." Chloe puts her arm reassuringly around her friend and the blond says, "Well it wouldn't have been if I hadn't…" The red head quickly interrupts saying, "But you did Bree. We need to go and check on those people in the car, make sure they're alright."

Beca takes that as her cue and clears her throat. "We're all good." The blond looks away from her friend and her eyes lock with Beca's, "What the hell is wrong with you. You could have killed her!" The girl yells and takes a menacing step towards her, one that Beca is sure strikes fear into the hearts of all the blond's rich debutante friends. Just from one look, Beca can see this girl comes from money, mainly by the way she holds herself. Her postures is just a little bit straighter than it should be, her head a little bit higher.

"Look I'm really sorry about that. Are you ok?" Beca asks Chloe who looks up from the hole in her skinny jeans and catches Beca in the eyes. Beca isn't sure if eyes have ever been so blue before. They may be the most beautiful thing she has ever seen, and the rest of the girls face doesn't fall far behind.

"Oh yah no I'm tots fine! Are you sure you guys are ok?" Chloe asks and it takes a second for her to reply because she is too busy looking at the red head. "Oh yah, we're fine,"

"And really really sorry!" Jesse says as he comes up beside Beca.

"Yah, well you better be." The blond huffs, clearly still upset about the near fatal accident. To be fair, Beca would be mad too. They should have been paying more attention. Even though the road looked clear doesn't mean they should have assumed it was.

"What Aubrey means to say is, its fine." The red head replies putting a hand on the blonds arm trying to not only reassure her but also send the message that she did not want her friend to start any fights. "Your car looks pretty beaten up though."

"Oh yah, it's definitely down for the count." Beca replies.

"Honestly, I'm sorry too. Our car ran out of gas, so I was trying to flag any car that passed us down. I was beginning to think we would be sleeping in our car tonight, and then I saw you." Chloe responds with a small, sad smile. Beca feels a pang of quilt. This girl should never be sad, especially not because of something that Beca was responsible for.

"And I told you that was a stupid and dangerous idea." The blond, who Beca now knows as Aubrey, chastises.

"Well your plan worked at least!" Beca jokes, trying to lighten the mood and to maybe calm Aubrey down a little bit. Instead, this comment just resulted in Aubrey staring daggers at Beca while she mumbles something only Chloe can hear, who seems annoyed by it.

"We actually have some spare gas in the trunk of our car, if you want to use it. It's not going to do us any good, now." Jesse remembers, wanting to make it up to these people in any way he can. They always keep spare gas, in case they run into the same problem these two girls had. Beca and Jesse were seasoned travelers. They could never stay in one place for too long.

He jogs down to their car, a little too fast for Beca's liking, and tries to get the trunk open. It's jammed shut, and Jesse remembers that Beca had to help him get it open the last time. "You know, you could run a little slower next time Jesse." He hears his friend say as she strolls up next to him.

"And you could've gotten here a little faster so you could give me a hand with this damn trunk." Jesse replies smiling at her. Beca just rolls her eyes and with one hand, opens the trunk with ease. "I'm calling it early, I have dibs on the red head. Blonds hot too, seems a little uptight for my taste though." Jesse adds as he carries the two red gas containers back to the girls.

Beca pretends not to care at all. She lifts her sunglasses and perches them on the top her head. With a lazy look thrown at Jesse she replies, "A. Red over there is not my type and B. I doubt she bats for my team anyways." Point A. is a complete lie. Everything about Chloe makes Beca want to get to know her. How she was so positive and kind to them when they had almost killed her, how her eyes seemed to have this special shine in them, the way she seems to always be smiling. These are things Beca has never possessed, and it makes the red head all the more fascinating, and perfect, to her. Point B. on the other hand, she is almost positive is true. Beca has liked girls for as long as she can remember. Having been out since practically middle school, Beca prides herself on having a pristine gaydar, and the red head did about the opposite of triggering it.

Reaching the two, Beca could see they were arguing about something in hushed tones. As soon as she and Jesse are in earshot range; however, the two bickering friends cease their discussion. "So we've decided, since it's kinda my fault that your car is totaled and you're letting us use your extra gas, that we would love to give you a ride to wherever you guys were heading." Chloe purposes. She has a huge gin on her face and is looking expectantly at Beca, waiting for her to agree. However, her blonde friend is giving Beca a glare that says you better not say yes.

"I'm sorry but there's no way we can accept that, we were the ones that almost killed you, remember?" Beca responds and can practically feel the shocked and angry glare that she knows Jesse is sending her way. They had gotten an offer to not be stranded with a totaled car in the middle of nowhere, and Beca refused it. However, due to the fact that this is all their fault and that if she says yes, she's pretty sure the uptight blond will kill her, it seems like the best answer.

Chloe's smile falters for a second, but only a second. She quickly quips, "Did I say we would love to? I meant we insist." Aubrey looks like she is about to open her mouth to protest but the red head quickly elbows her friend lightly, and Beca wants to laugh. How the red head and blond are friends completely baffles Beca. Just from her short encounter with them, it's clear they do not seem to fit together.

"And what my friend meant to say is, we would love to take you up on that offer if it's not too much to ask." Jesse cuts in before Beca can protest again. Aubrey gives Beca one last glare, looks over Jesse's way and then walks arms folded to the driver's side of a small, brand new, white BMW. Beca notices that the blond's eyes are lingering on Jesse. Whether it is because she is mad at him too or checking out her best friend, Beca doesn't quite know.

"So what do you think is wrong with Ms. Stick Up Her Ass?" Jesse mumbles motioning towards Aubrey, who now appears to be pouting in front seat of the car.

"I don't know Jesse, you'd think we almost ran over her friend or something." Beca jokes quietly and Jesse laughs.

Beca feels someone loop their arm around hers and looks over to see Chloe standing next to her. "So, I just wanted to say sorry about Aubrey, she's actually really great when you get to know her." Normally Beca would have quickly shaken any girl off her that had done that, and told her never to touch her again. However, there is something about Chloe that's different, something that makes Beca awkwardly loop her arm with the other girl's as well.

"I'm sure she is." Beca says, trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice, but failing miserably.

"She is I promise. She's just, I don't know how to describe it."

"Uptight?" Beca asks.

"No, well yes, but no at the same time. I guess you just have to know her like I do. She means well, most of the time. I'm sure she has nothing against you!" Chloe replies. She isn't quite sure why Chloe feels the need to justify Aubrey to her, there is no reason why the red head should care what Beca thinks of her friend. But she does, and Beca feels slightly flattered.

"If she's anything like you, I'm sure she's great." Beca responds and mentally slap herself. She can't believe she just said that. Her face is burning with embarrassment and she tries to hides it because of the blush creeping into her cheeks.

Chloe simply smiles at Beca and says, "My name's Chloe."

"Beca." She offers in return. Her response surprises her. She never gives her real name. That's kind of rule number one when you're on the run. Too many chances the people after you could ask around and get on your trail again.

"Well Beca, I think that we're going to be really fast friends."

"Well, my friend did almost kill you with a car soo…" Beca replies, her tone light and fun.

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"and then, Aubrey puked all over the front row!" Chloe says, finishing her story and giggling at the ridiculousness of it. Jesse is nearly crying because he thinks it's so funny. Beca has tried especially hard not to laugh due to the fact that the blond had objected to Chloe telling this story in the first place. However, there is no way she can keep a straight face. The group has been talking for hours, but it has only felt like minutes. Chloe has not stopped since they piled into the car, and not in the annoying talking-just-to-hear-her-own-voice way. She was just genuinely filled stories about her own life, and questions about Beca and Jesse's. With the two five gallon gas cans, the group has managed to make some really great time. They had forgone stopping at the gas station 10 miles away from their mishap. Instead they had decided drive to a small city that was a couple of hours away.

As Beca looks out her window, the city materializes. It's small and she can see the entirety of what she assumes is the main part of town, from her seat. She can tell it's one of those quaint places where everyone smiles and knows everything about each other. The thought in and of itself makes her anxious. Beca doesn't like to necessarily stick out, she marches to the beat of her own drum, which usually leaves her introverted self away from the lime light. That's why she had wanted to go to L.A., a big city, and be a producer. She herself never wanted to be in the spotlight, but she loved music. Producing was her compromise, and it didn't hurt that she was good at it. Mixing beats was something that could calm her even in the most troubling times. Putting on those headphones is like an escape from the world. One she is in desperate need of, especially with the way her life is going right now. She knows she has no hope of being a producer anymore, she sealed her fate long ago.

"We'll stop at the gas station, fill up and then find the two of you somewhere to stay." Chloe says. She turns around to Beca and smiles again. Aubrey simply concentrates intensely on the road. The blond has hardly said anything the whole drive, and Beca assumes she's still mad. They pull into the gas station and Aubrey throws the car into park. Beca looks up to survey her surroundings. Its looks so old that she expects a man to come out and start to fill their tank himself.

She catches something out of the corner of her eye that draws her attention. Four black Escalades file into the station very organized, back to back. Something about the formality of their approach makes Beca nervous. She gets the sinking feeling that these cars are not driven by townspeople. She realizes now who they are. It's over. They've found her and Jesse. They are officially goners. Maybe they won't be killed, but a part of her hopes that that will be her fate. Nothing would be worse than to be captured by those barbarians. Beca looks over at Jesse and can see the fear clouding his brown eyes as well.

"Bree you need to drive." Chloe says, the usual bubbliness drained from her voice. The statement is so quiet, Beca isn't entirely certain exactly how she hears it. Aubrey throws the car in reverse, which is the only direction they aren't blocked in from. She is about to jam her foot on the gas when another car pulls up behind them. Beca turns around to see a tall man with a muscular build and dark hair get out of the vehicle. She would know that man anywhere. Her mind is drawn back to that fateful night. The night she lost her father, she lost her dreams, she lost her freedom.

Shaking the memory and pushing it back into the dark corners of her mind, she sees Aubrey, looking nervously at the figure standing behind them. The blond looks as if she knows him all too well. But there's no way, that's impossible. That would mean that the two girls they had met are like her and Jesse, something Beca cannot possibly fathom. "Chlo..." Aubrey trails off, fear in her voice.

"I see him Bree. What are we going to do?" Chloe asks, and now Beca can hear fear in the red head's voice. Now, Beca knows, in some facet, these two girls are like her and Jesse. There would be no other explanation for them to recognize him. Beca is brought back to something that Jesse had said earlier that day.

" _Beca, I didn't turn the wheel."_

It all made sense to her now. She was about to express her revelation when Aubrey says, "We do the only thing we can." The blond has clearly taken the lead between the two. She looks over to Chloe who nods in agreement. "I guess there's no other choice, Bree. Beca, Jesse, stay in the car. Don't come out until they're all dead, or we are." The statement surprises Beca. She never could have guessed something so dark could pass the lips of someone so kind, and bright. However, she doesn't really know the red head. She has made general assumptions, but maybe they are far off base. Either way, she feels a great deal of panic when Chloe leaves the car. For some reason, Beca has this need to protect the girl, and there's nothing she can do within the confines of this vehicle.

She looks over at Jesse and can tell he has pieced together everything she has. "What are the odds Becs?" He asks, letting out a sad laugh and shaking his head. They had never met anyone like them before. Now, the two they had were about to be killed or worse. Beca looks at him again and they're eyes lock. In that one moment, an entire conversation has passed with that one simple look. He nods his head and they open their doors. At that very second, all hell breaks loose.

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 **Ok so that's the first chapter, I hoped you enjoyed it! As you can tell, I will put in a lot of things that happened in the movie, they will just happen under different circumstances, and some of the lines will be tweaked to suit my story! I will try to update weekly. Thank you so much for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Anything italicized is Beca's personal thoughts.**

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Chaos, that's the only way Beca can think to describe everything that's going on around her. There are people everywhere and they are all running towards Beca and her group. She looks around and sees Aubrey and Chloe tag teaming against three people. Beca doesn't get a very good look at them, though, due to the fact that Jesse is constantly obstructing her view as he blurs by. Though she cannot make out any of his features, she can see the streak like pattern he makes. A trail of people lying on the ground, some confused as to how they got there and some completely unconscious, are left in his path. If it were under different circumstances, Beca would laugh at the shocked look on their faces.

Focusing on her current task at hand, she notices a man approaching her. He is nothing all too intimidating: average height and average weight with an easily forgettable face. However, when the man's face begins to mutate, and shift, Beca knows that image will forever be burned into her mind. In the man's place, stands a carbon copy of a wolf. She's never witnessed something like that outside of the wolf transformation scene in one of those Twilight movies she fell asleep during. However, when they changed in the movie, it was a lot less disgusting than what just happened in front of her.

The animal leaps towards her with a feral growl and its large, sharp teeth bared. The wolf lands on her and she falls back, hitting the pavement ass first. She is now staring at it, and hot saliva is dripping onto her face. The creature has both her arms pinned under two small paws and she can feel its claws digging into her. However, the wolf hasn't made any move to kill or even seriously harm her. While this fact confuses her, Beca knows that she doesn't have time to think about it. Expelling a small amount of her strength, she easily frees her arms.

Now freed, she shoves the animal off her. It goes flying, soaring into the sky. Beca doesn't believe her eyes when the wolf changes into a hawk and dive bombs her. Beca scrambles away as it nears the ground. Once it has nearly landed, it transforms into a huge lion. It stalk towards Beca, like an animal hunting its prey. She is pushing herself back with her legs, scooting on the ground. The lion's growl rips through the air and it lunges at her. Right before the animal hits her, something sends it sailing into the car a few feet away from them. It slams into a vehicle and then slumps to the ground. The lion changes in front of Beca's eyes and in its place is the man. He is lying unconscious and naked on the ground.

Beca looks around and sees Aubrey with her hand raised in the direction of where the beast had been. Beca smiles at the blond and the girl simply nods back before resuming her own battle. Surveying the field, Beca notices that one of the cars is filled with weapons that are being unloaded. Six people are standing by it, and Beca can see that it's quite evident that these men do not have any special abilities of their own.

 _So that's their plan_. The wolf not trying to kill her suddenly makes sense. Their enemy wants to simply wear them down before the others come in with their guns. They more than likely want to capture Beca and the rest of her group. They must want to use them as test subjects. The only thing worse than death, to Beca, is becoming a lab rat. To be tested on night and day, to be kept alive simply to satisfy the greed and curiosity of others. Anger runs through her body and she is now more determined than ever to not let these guys win.

She bends her legs and jumps, sailing through the sky. She lands on one of the men, tackling him to the ground. Getting up, she is able to also pull the man along with her, and to his feet. Using his struggling body as a shield, she avoids getting hit with what's coming out of the guns that the soldiers have. After a few rounds of shots are fired at her, the man's body goes slack. She looks down at him and sees small darts protruding from his bullet proof vest and his unprotected arms. _Tranquilizers_.

Beca throws the unconscious man at one of the guy who's holding a gun. They both fly several feet before crashing into and then through the glass, gas station doors. She spots a manhole in front of her and picks up the cover. Confident with her new shield, she charges at the remaining four, deflecting any darts shot at her. Once she reaches them, she smashes the shield into the head of one of the men, careful not to use enough force to kill him. That's not something Beca has done before, and she'd like to keep it that way.

The man she hits slumps to the ground and then Beca sends a kick into the woman next to him. She sails into the sky and then though the hole already made in the door. With two more left, she flings her shield like a Frisbee. It hits its target sending the man sailing. He skids against the ground for a while until finally coming to a stop. He lays motionless on the pavement, trapped under the 200 plus pound cover. She dives to the ground, both to dodge the darts being shot at her by the one remaining person, and to grab a dropped gun. She picks it up and fires at the man standing before her, as he scrambles to reload his weapon. Her darts hit him, and after a couple seconds he slumps to the ground.

She looks over to check on how the rest of her friends are doing. She sees that the battle field has narrowed down sizably and that Aubrey appears to be in a heated match with what looks like air. However, the way the blond appears to be taking hits, it's clearly a person with abilities of their own. Aubrey looks to be at the end of her string when it comes to her powers. While they do possess abilities, they tire easily. It feels very similar to doing a short, intense workout. You may only be expelling energy for a small amount of time, but it leaves you and your body exhausted. Beca's definitely feeling the toll that doting her make-shift shield has caused on her muscles.

The blond is trying her best to fend off the blows, but in her weakened state, she is failing miserably. The brunette looks at her feet and faces her body directly where Aubrey seems to be throwing her hands. Beca stomps, expelling a small and controlled amount of her strength, and the ground shakes. It begins to crack beneath her, and travels all the way down to what appears to be the thin air in front of Aubrey.

When the jolt from Beca's stomp reaches them, it causes both Aubrey and her opponent to fall. Confused and thrown off their feet, the air materializes into a young woman. Beca's blond teammate quickly seizes the moment, raising her hand and sending the formally invisible lady forcefully into the brick wall of the gas station. She makes a sickening thud sound on impact and slowly falls to the ground. Aubrey sends a smile in Beca's direction.

"We're even." Beca shouts to her and Aubrey nods before getting to her feet and taking on her next opponent.

Beca looks around for a second until her eyes fall on a man she knows all too well. Someone who Beca despises. He is leaning against the side of a car, watching the events unfold behind dark sunglasses. His black hair is cropped closely to his head and he has a very distinct jaw. He is wearing the same uncaring expression he had been when he ordered his men to kill Beca's father. Beca still remembers trying to hold in her cries as she hid in their kitchen pantry. She begins walking in his direction, and lifts the manhole cover off the trapped person along the way. She flings it at the man in rage. It's a perfect throw, but her opponent effortlessly steps out of its path without as much as a look in her direction. He then turns, facing her.

His lips curl into a sickening grin and he begins to close the space between them. On his way he reaches in his pocket and retrieves a small black object. With a simple flick of his wrist, the devise elongates, taking on the shape of a much narrower police baton. She hears faint buzzing coming from the black stick, realizing it must be a Taser of sorts.

He lunges at Beca once they are in combat range. She sidesteps the buzzing object, and then jumps high into the air when she sees he is bringing it back towards her midsection. When she lands he is swinging once again. With each swipe he gets closer and closer to hitting her. Beca is frantically dodging, but each of the man's moves are careful and calculated. He clearly knows what he's doing.

Beca does get lucky and is able to catch the man's arm during one of his attempt to electrify her. With one swift motion, she breaks it. The electric baton is sent sprawling on the pavement, and Beca feels a small amount of relief, and confidence, in her minor victory. That is, until she hears the man laugh instead of cry out. Shocked her grip loosens and he pulls his injured limb away from her. Holding his hurt arm with his good one, he sends several kicks in her direction.

She jumps back, easily avoiding them, and then sends her fist into the man's chest. She puts enough force behind her punch to shatter every rib in his body. The hit sends him reeling back and he flies forcefully into the driver's door of a large Escalade.

"That's for my dad, asshole." She seethes, turning her back to the beaten man and looking around to see if any of her friends need help.

"I thought you looked familiar, girl." She hears the very distinct German accent and whips back around. She sees the tall man peeling himself away from the damaged car. His disfigured arm begins to reset itself, and his numerous cuts close. Everything on him returns to how it looked minutes ago. The only sign of their battle is the sticky blood that is caked to his pale face.

 _Accelerated healing_. Beca's heard of it a few times in her life but was always told that the power is incredibly rare. People who possess it are nearly indestructible. Their immunity to disease and expanded life span makes them very sought after by normal humans, the wealthy especially. They see it as their fountain of youth. However, the rarity of the ability and the scientists' incapability of transferring or even recreating the gift, has left many who possess it lab rats, or dead. This man; however, appears to have been converted into a soldier.

He closes the space between them and before Beca can recover from her shock, he sends a punch to the brunette's stomach. Beca doubles over in pain and then is met in the face with his knee as he brings it up. Her vision begins to cloud with black and the dizziness causes her to lose balance. Beca lands hard on the ground. She winces in pain and curses whoever gave her these powers for not making her indestructible as well. Sensing the raised boot of her enemy she quickly rolls out of the way, right when he bring his foot down where her head would have been.

She grabs the mans ankle, and squeezes, shattering it. The man stumbles a bit, and then falls to the ground. She hops up and tries to run away when she feels a sharp pain in the back of her leg.

"Never turn your back on your opponent, girl."

She feels fear running down her spine, which is quickly replaced with the spreading of pain from her leg to the rest of her body. Everything on her tenses as the pain courses through it. She has lost control of her limbs, and feels herself falling. She can't catch herself, and lands with a thud. Her body aches, and she thinks she feels herself twitching, but she's not sure. She can hear her heartbeat in her ears as she looks out to the battle field. There are only a few of their enemies left; however, they all have powers and are going toe to toe with her friends.

Jesse is having his ass handed to him by some guy who can apparently control the earth, and Aubrey is surrounded by four of the same person. Then she sees Chloe. The redhead sends the person she has been fighting with flying through the air and when they land, they crash through the roof of a neighboring business.

Chloe begins walking towards the middle of the commotion. She raises her arm in Jesse's direction as a strange, red, almost gas like substance emerges from her hand. Her blue eyes also change, transforming into the same red color coming out of her hand. It hits the earth manipulator in the temple. The woman continues to fight Jesse for a couple of seconds before shaking her head, looking dazed. She stumbles for a second and then sinks to her knees, trembling. The look on her face is pure terror.

Beca feels her hands being zip tied behind her back by the man as he speaks in a language she can't understand. It sounds like he is having a conversation with someone, probably talking in to a headset. Focusing her attention back onto Chloe, she watches as the redhead takes a second and stares intently at Aubrey's opponent. With deadly accuracy, Chloe sends one of the men surrounding her best friend flying until he hits a car. The other three clones disappear seconds after.

Beca feels the German man pick her up as he begins to flee the scene, probably trying to capture at least one of them. However, Beca sees Chloe walking towards them. The redhead looks scary to Beca, with her eyes glowing red and the way she looks like she's ready to murder someone.

Beca feels herself fall to the grounds roughly, hitting shoulder first, unable to try and catch herself. She manages to get into a sitting position and sees Chloe has her captor pinned up against the side of a car. His expression is still calm, but with his sun glasses having been knocked off at some point in the battle, Beca can see the fear in his eyes.

"What's your power, huh?" Chloe asks him. Her voice sounds different. It's devoid of the bubbly, perky tone Beca had grown accustom to. The man doesn't say a word. "Oh, interesting, self-healing. Well I want to tell you, Pieter is it?" Chloe continues. He doesn't respond, but the look on his face says that she's right. "It is. Well, Pieter I want you to know that while physically you may be indestructible," She's inches away from his face now, "mentally you're not." Chloe raises her index finger to his temple and the same red gas like substance leaves her the tip of it and enters his head.

Pieter reacts quit similarly to the woman who Chloe had just done that to. She releases her telekinetic hold on him and he falls to the ground, curling into a ball, like a child. Chloe is also stumbling now, appearing to have pushed herself far past her limits. Aubrey has made her way over to the scene and grabs Chloe's shoulder in an attempt to steady her friend.

"We said only the telekinetic part of your powers during fights, Chloe. You promised me."

Beca is very shocked by what has just happened in front of her. She is amazed by the amount of power Chloe has and how different Chloe is when using it. She has done a complete 360 from the person she was throughout the whole car ride.

Jesse is by Beca's side now, undoing her zip tied hands. "You ok Becs?" He asks her once her hands are free, concern evident in his voice. She just nods and thanks him when he helps her to her feet. She's a little light headed and sways for a second. She leans on Jesse for support. He puts and arm around her to make sure she doesn't fall. Once she's gotten her footing back, she shoves Jesse playfully away from her and he smiles back in relief. Beca focuses her attention back on the other two girls.

Chloe shakes her head for a second, and her eyes revert back to the beautiful blue that Beca likes so much. "I know Bree, but I didn't have a choice. You and Jesse were't looking too great and Beca was about to be taken god knows where."

"Chlo, using that stuff takes a lot out of you." The blond huffs. What Aubrey doesn't say is, it's also really scares her to see Chloe, usually so kind and sweet, become a completely different person when using it. Chloe rolls her eyes, obviously annoyed at Aubrey. However, when the blond begins to help her to the car, Chloe doesn't object.

Beca thinks back to what Aubrey said about only using telekinetic powers during fights. The fact that they have had that conversation before doesn't sit right with Beca. She and Jesse have been on the road for months, and have never once had to use their abilities. That is, until they met these two girls.

"She's got some unusual powers." Jesse says as he and Beca walk towards the car as well. "Did you see the look on that guys face when her red gas stuff hit him?" Beca just hums in agreement before focusing back on Chloe and Aubrey. She has a weird feeling about them, like they might be hiding something more. It wasn't that she didn't trust the girls, which surprised Beca. She usually has a genuine distrust for basically everyone except Jesse. No, she definitely doesn't distrust them. Though after seeing and hearing everything she just did, there is a little voice in the back of her mind telling her that maybe she should.

When Beca reaches their car, she notices the white BMW is still wholly in tacked. In fact there's not even a scratch on it. "You wasted like half your power protecting this damn car, didn't you Bree?" Chloe jokes as Aubrey opens the passenger door and then dumps her friend into the seat.

"Well, it's brand new and I didn't want to go through the trouble of buying a new one or getting repairs." Aubrey replies dismissively.

"We need to get out of here before the police come or any of these guys wake up." Jesse suggests, looking around at all the people littering the ground.

"You guys definitely won't be able to stay in this town, and there no way Aubrey and I are going to be able to make it to where we were going tonight. I say we drive for as long as we can and then get a couple of rooms somewhere." Chloe suggests. "If that's ok with you two, I mean!" She quickly adds.

The two brunettes exchange glances and then Beca says, "I think it might be our only option at this point."

"Ok with that settled let me get gas." Aubrey says before grabbing her purse from under Chloe's feet. Taking out her credit card she approaches the pump and sees that it reads, 'Pay inside'.

"I'll be right back." Aubrey says before heading towards the entrance of the store.

"She can't be serious." Beca says completely shocked.

"Oh she is." Chloe replies, stretching out and stifling a yawn, not even a little phased.

Beca walks quickly trying to catch up to Aubrey to tell her to stop, that they can get gas somewhere along the way.

"Becs, grab me some food." Jesse yells after her.

She rolls her eyes at his comment and approaches the entrance of the convenient store. She's too late to stop Aubrey and the blond is already at the register. The man behind it is looking at her terrified. The three people Beca sent through the door are lying on the ground, chip bags and candy splayed everywhere. The store is in shambles and Beca carefully steps around the people, glass crunching under her black Converse.

"Hi, I want to put 40 on pump 3." Aubrey says handing the guy an unbelievably large amount of cash for her request. The man looks at the money for a second shock overtaking his face. He then accepts it with a shaking hand and punches in Aubrey's request.

"D-do you want a receipt, m-mam?" He stutters, fear evident in his voice.

"No thank you. Beca, grab some snacks for the road, we have a long drive ahead of us." Aubrey says and then whips around. She leaves the store not even glancing back. Beca grabs a few items, gives an apologetic smile to the clerk and follows Aubrey.

Once the tank is full they pile into the car for the second time that day. They exit the gas station and hit the road. They narrowly miss the police cars that go wailing in, as they pull out. "See, I knew we had enough time for gas." Aubrey says before turning the radio on.

"Wait, are we not even going to talk about what just happened?" Beca asks.

"What's there to discuss?" Aubrey counters.

"We just got done fighting a bunch of people in the middle of nowhere, and you're acting like its just a typical Saturday!"

"That's exactly why I don't feel like talking about anything. Can we do this later, I'm not in the mood." Aubrey says hotly, not even sparing Beca a glance in the rear view mirror. Beca rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, turning her head to glare out her window. The the car is silent now, the only sound is the radio playing.

"Bree, can I choose the music?" Chloe asks.

"If I said no would you do it anyways?"

"Yep!"

"Fine."

Chloe plugs her phone into the Aux cord on the car. David Guetta's Titanium plays and Chloe starts to sing. Her voice amazes Beca. It's so sweet and angelic. Beca could listen to it all day.

"You know David Guetta?" Beca asks genuinely surprised, turning to the redhead.

"Have I been living under a rock?" Chloe shoots back, smiling at Beca through the rear view mirror before continuing to sing the chorus. _That does it, I am officially in love with the straight girl I met less than six hours ago._

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed! I'm still working on my fight scene writing, so I'm sorry if it wasn't too great. I want to say thank you to all of you who reviewed! It really means a lot to me! Like I said last chapter, I will try to be updating weekly, give her take a few days. Also I am writing Flula's character, Pieter from Pitch Perfect 2, super AU. The only person who can do Flula is Flula and I failed miserably in the first few drafts at trying to write him. Thanks again for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

Beca stares out the window trying to make out the blurred shapes. It is increasingly difficult because of the speed they are traveling and the minimal amount of light the moon is casting on the fields. Beca is more than a little surprised by how fast and, frankly, scary the uptight blonde drives. Luckily for them, Beca's two new companions choose to travel back roads as well, meaning the possibility of wrecking is incredibly lower.

The drive has felt infinitely longer than their original as a group. The unanswered questions Beca's asked are hanging in the air, making it thick. They have been on the road for at least five hours and the only thing filling the awkwardly quiet vehicle is Chloe's singing. Beca thought that Jesse was impressive with how long he could sing, but this redhead puts her friend to shame. Not that she's complaining. She's liked almost every song Chloe's played and the fact that Beca could listen to the redhead sing the phone book and enjoy it doesn't hurt either.

Beca is pulled from her game of shape figuring by the sound of Jesse snoring. Once they got in the car, her friend scarfed down three bags of chips, a candy bar, and then promptly fell asleep. Like Beca's done eight previous times, she sends an elbow lightly into the Jesse's ribs. He jolts awake and then looks over at her, his tired, blurry eyes silted in anger. He elbows her back and then Beca makes a mean face punching at him. They get into one of their typical, she punches he punches fights only to be broken out of their battle by the tired voice of the controlling blonde.

"Oh my god, could you two not. This is laterally like the sixth time you guys have done that and its getting aca-annoying."

Beca stifles a laugh at the blonde's choice of words. She remembers Chloe saying something about a cappella in the vomit story, but Beca hadn't really payed mind to it. The whole concept of a cappella is funny to the brunette, and she didn't really think people actually did it. Something about people voluntarily participating in organized nerd signing is too ridiculous for her to grasp.

Jesse just huffs, mumbling something about Aubrey having a stick up her ass, while rolling his eyes. He is not in the mood for her attitude. They are all on edge; tired and hungry after their big throw down. The chips and candy bars Beca snagged for them could only hold them off for so long.

"Oh that's really nice." Aubrey starts. "You would be stranded, car-less, in some hodunk town getting chainsaw massacred or something, if it weren't for me." The blonde is clearly not amused by the brunette boy's joke.

"Yah, well this isn't Texas, but nice try princess." Jesse shoots back, trying not to nerd out over her movie reference.

The remark surprises Beca. Jesse is typically a very down to earth, fun and easy going. It isn't like him to seriously argue with anyone, or even use a harsh tone. Especially not with people they have just met. She knows she needs to diffuse the situation, but she can't seem to bring herself to do it. She also can't seem to hide the smile on her face when she sees the how mad it made the blonde. Beca hears a snort from the front passenger seat and knows its Chloe trying to hold back laughter. This only makes Aubrey angrier.

"Do not call me princess." Aubrey seethes, hands tightening on the wheel. Beca can sense that the blonde's reached her boiling point; that she should jump in but there's a part of her that doesn't really care. Beca kind of just wants to sit back and watch the rest of the event unfold with a box of popcorn, if she had popcorn.

"What are you going to do about it, princess?" Jesse questions, less seriousness in his tone. He can sense he's hit a sore spot for the Aubrey and now, he's just messing with her.

"So help me, I will kick you and your little hobbit girlfriend out of my car if you call me that one more time."

"Whoa, we are not dating." Beca says to everyone holding her hands up defensively in front of her, wondering how she got dragged into the argument. Chloe has turned around in her seat now, looking from Jesse to Beca to Aubrey; waiting for who's going to have the next outburst. "We're not dating." Beca clarifies again, looking directly at the redhead. Chloe gives her a confused but sweet smile, accompanied by a nod. Beca mentally slaps herself. Why she looked directly at Chloe and said that she has no clue.

"P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S. Prince…" Jesse starts, only to be interrupted by Chloe. "Wow, Jesse thank you so much for that spelling lesson. It was really great but, uhm, maybe we could just stick to, like, sinning some songs or something."

"Chlo you know I love you and that I think you have a great voice, but if I have to hear you sing another song you'll be out on the side of the road with the hobbit and the hobbit's boyfriend."

"Oh my god, I'm not a fucking hobbit." Beca shouts. She never knew that she had a problem with her height until this very moment in time. The blonde somehow managed to make something she hasn't even given a second thought about, a sore spot. Beca's stomach growls and she realizes that might be the reason the insult is making her so mad. The rational part of her mind tells her she is just starving and exhausted, but the other overwhelming majority is ready for a fight. "And we," Becca starts pointing between her and Jesse for good measure, "are not dating!"

Jesse nods agreeing, then adds, "Yeah, we aren't. Hobbit is not my type." Beca turns and punches Jesse who punches her back. Aubrey starts yelling at them to stop. Now, everyone in the car is shouting at whoever they can think of an insult for. They are teaming up against one another, and then turning on each other seconds after the shortly formed alliances begin. Beca is surprised by her own ability to combine stings of cuss words together and throw them at people. She had burned through her typical go-to's in a couple of minutes and quickly used her resourcefulness to come up with new and better ones. She makes a mental note to thank her high school improve teacher if she ever sees him again.

"Enough!" Chloe yells out, finally having it with all the commotion in the car. She had been sitting back idly, watching and cringing, at the events unfolding but finally reached breaking.

Beca halts halfway through a light punch intended for Jesse, and Aubrey stops mid-yell. The blond hardly ever hears her usually placid best friend yell and is caught completely off-guard. "Thank you." Chloe says, sounding extremely annoyed. "Look we are all tired, we are all hungry…" The redhead continues.

"Yah because someone ate all the food." Aubrey mumbles and Beca finishes her punch she had stopped, hitting Jesse in the arm. The fact that he had managed to eat practically all the food she had gotten for them still makes Beca mad.

"Regardless, I think we need to stop, rest up and figure things out in the morning. We're, like, 10 minutes out from a small city." There are unanimous grumbles of what Chloe's thinks are "Okays" at her idea. The prospect of food and a bed quickly causes everyone to forget about their arguments.

The group appears to be in a slightly better mood and there's a hint of excitement at the idea of getting out of the car. Beca can't wait to stretch her legs and get something to eat, anything. She can't remember the last time she has been this hungry. She could probably eat sushi right now, and like it. A thought she never imagined would cross her mind.

"Bree you need to take this exit." Chloe says.

"You mean the one I just passed, Chlo?"

"I-I think so?" The redhead responds, cringing slightly at the tone in the blonde's voice.

"Oh my god Chloe!" Aubrey yells.

"Well maybe if you didn't drive like a damn speed daemon we would've made the exit!" Chloe yells back. The two friends start bickering about anything and everything while Baca just massages her temples, waiting to be out of the cursed car.

* * *

"Ok so they only have one room open, two queen beds. Me and Aubrey," Chloe starts before getting interrupted by the blonde. "Aubrey and I."

Chloe give Aubrey a fake smile to try to hide her anger at her uptight best friend. "Aubrey and I can share a bed. Is it ok for you two to uhm…" Chloe starts but kind of stops towards the end, feeling a little awkward asking the question, not wanting to offend them.

"Of course." Beca replies quickly, seeing the uncomfortable blush on the redhead's cheeks and not wanting her to feel any more uncomfortable then she already does.

"Yah, me and Becs love to cuddle." Jesse says, making sure to emphasize the improper grammar. He slings an arm around his petite friend and squeezes her tightly to him. Beca laughs and pushes Jesse off of her. Aubrey just rolls her eyes and walks away with her suitcase in tow, towards the elevator.

"So, what do you guys think about going to bar, drinking, and getting some insanely greasy food?" Chloe asks, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the idea.

"I think you might be the girl of my dreams." Jesse says jokingly, and a little too flirtatiously for Beca's liking. Jealousy creeps through her body and she quickly scolds herself. She has no right to be jealous, she has no claim on Chloe. Jesse can flirt with whoever he wants.

Chloe giggles and blushes slightly. "Perfect! Aubrey and I asked if there were any in walking distance when you guys were getting your stuff. Yah know, so we don't have to worry about a DD."

"And?" Jesse asks waiting for Chloe to tell them what the concierge said.

"Oh right. We got lucky and not only is there a bar, like, a block down, but it also has karaoke!" Chloe squeals excitedly.

Normally Beca would groan and say absolutely not to the idea. However, seeing the redhead's excitement, she finds herself smiling instead. They head to the elevator and go up to their room. Aubrey is already in it, her stuff laid on the bed by the air conditioning unit and window. Chloe goes over to it and Aubrey whispers something to her.

"I have them in my bag." Chloe replies loudly, shuffling through her stuff. She pulls out a packet of Lysol wipes and hands them over to her best friend.

"Dude, you can't be serious." Beca says laughing at the blonde.

"Dixie Chic serious." Aubrey answers. Beca raises her eyebrows and watches as the blonde cleans various objects. "Do you know how filthy the remotes are?" Aubrey adds noticing Beca's judgmental gaze. The petite brunette turns to Chloe who simply shrugs.

"Ok, while I don't want to cut your cleaning session short princess, can we get food and drinks?" Jesse asks, already halfway out the door.

* * *

After a short walk filled with discussion of how much food they would be consuming, and a small bet to the actual amount in which Jesse will, they arrive at the bar. It's very simple, looking like an over sized shack. If it weren't for the florescent sign saying 'Sally's Saloon: Bar & Grill', Beca would not believe that it wasn't just a big storage shed. Once they approached it, they could hear the voices and music from the curb. Opening the door, they were hit with light and several of dozens of people.

"Sit wherever y'all want." The 50something year old bartender shouts to them.

"Wow, this place is bumpin!" Chloe says to Beca who is standing next to her, absorbing how crowded it is.

"Bumpin?" The brunette asks, eyebrows raised and a smile playing on her lips. The fact the expression even left the Chloe's mouth makes Beca want to laugh. She wonders to herself how the bubbly girl can make any ridiculous expression sound cute.

"Bumpin." Chloe replies smiling and then grabs Beca's arm. There's one table left in the middle of the bar, just steps away from the dance floor. The redhead leads Beca there and then takes a seat directly across from her. "You're such a nerd." Beca says smiling at the redhead, who giggles in response.

Jesse and Aubrey follow them, and the blonde takes the seat next to Chloe. Jesse plops down next to the petite brunette and immediately reaches for the menus wedged between the condiments and drinks list. "I'm telling you guys, I could go through about ten burgers right now."

"We know Jesse, we heard you the other 100 times you said that on the way here." Aubrey teases, clearly less tense then she was in the car.

Right before Jesse can reply, a waitress approaches their table. "What can I get ya ta drink?"

The thick southern accent it evident in her voice, and Beca wonders where they are. The group had been on the road for a while, but Beca and Jesse had been heading north, originally. No real destination, just away from their Midwest hometown.

"One margarita pitcher on the rocks and…" Chloe pauses for a second and looks at Beca, studying her for a moment, and then finishes, "One pitcher of Pabts Blue Ribbon on tap if you have it."

"You're in luck sweetheart, we're one of the only bars within a 100 mile radius that does have that on tap. Don't know why though, not many people order that down in these parts." She says before asking everyone at the table for their IDs. They comply, and the waitress thanks them, starting to walk away.

"Oh and also, it's all on one check." Chloe calls to her and the waitress turns around, giving Chloe a nod.

"Oh you don't have to do that, Jesse and I can foot our half." Beca replies, though it isn't really true. They are tight for cash, having spent the majority of it on gas, food, and lodging over the span of their trip. They are down to their last couple hundred, just enough to pay their hotel room and to fill whatever car they steal next up with gas.

"No I insist. It's the least I can do. If it weren't for you two, Aubrey and I would have been goners in that fight." Chloe says, and it's very true. The Pieter guy who ambushed them had been surprised to see Beca there. There was no way that he was actual after her and Jesse.

"Wow, cute and generous. You just keep getting better and better Chloe….?" Jesse says flirtatiously, leaving the last part open ended.

"Beale, my last names Beale." She responds with a smile as a blush creeps up on her cheeks. Beca feels that same jealousy course through her, and honestly feels like punching her best friend right in the face. She settles for a hard kick to his shin under the table and he lets out an uhmph.

"Well, thank you, Chloe Beale." Jesse says before quickly cutting his eyes at Beca for the kick he just received.

"So, how'd you know I would want beer, let alone Pabst?" Beca asks changing the subject. She wants to get the attention off of Jesse as soon as possible. Beca had never once fought for a girls attention, and this was completely knew territory for her. She couldn't really say she liked it.

"Lucky guess, Beca." Chloe says with a mischievous smirk.

"Did you read my mind? Like you did with that German guy?" Beca questions, a little shocked but mostly curious. She wants to know how this girls powers work, and she's been wanting the opportunity to ask. Beca's never been told a story of someone with multiple powers and is more than a little bit curious.

"I guess we'll never know will we Beca?" Chloe says, playfully winking. If Beca didn't know better she would think that the redhead is flirting. But, from how Chloe has been reacting to Jesse's obvious pickup lines, Beca doubts the redhead would be interested in her.

The waitress comes back to the table with their pitchers and takes their order. Aubrey gets a grilled chicken salad, Beca decides on a burger, and Chloe matches Beca's order. However, with the encouragement of Aubrey, Jesse orders their big mouth burger challenge, which consists of eating a four pound burger in one hour. Making it would take 45 minutes so they settle on drinking to pass the time.

"Guys, we are going to get trashed if we drink this on empty stomachs." Aubrey worries, looking hesitantly at her glass. Chloe obviously having no qualms about it, filled her and her friend's glasses to the brim with margarita from the pitcher.

"Have a peanut then." Jesse says, scooting the bucket filled with the nuts to her. She grabs one and breaks the shell, then pops it in her mouth. "Oh all better. You're my hero Jesse." The blonde retorts sarcastically. Jesse laughs at her and his eyes linger on hers for a moment. Aubrey raises her eye brows at him and he quickly looks away.

"Just loosen up Bree! We're in walking distance from our hotel and in a group! Who cares?" Chloe exclaims before taking a large swig of her drink.

"So when are you going to get on the stage and give everyone a performance, Beale?" Beca jokes drinking her cold beer. It's just how she likes it and something she hasn't had in a while. She almost wants to drink slowly to savor it, almost.

"Not yet Beca! This ginger needs her jiggle juice." The redhead says before draining the content of her first glass. "Plus I need my partner up on the stage with me!" Chloe yells and turns expectantly to Aubrey.

"Oh no, that is not happening." Aubrey replies stiffly, before raising her glass to her lips, intending to take only a small sip. The next thing she knows, Chloe has a finger on the bottom of it and is raising it up. The blonde has no choice but to drink until her glass is finished, so she doesn't spill it all over herself. Everyone is laughing and Aubrey just rolls her eyes playfully at Chloe, joining in with them.

"I give her two more and then she'll be running that stage." Chloe says and Aubrey shakes her head, assuring everyone that she will, in fact, not be. "Ok, Bree, if that's what you think." Chloe teases and then shakes her head to Beca, covering the side of her face and mouthing 'lightweight'. The small brunette smiles, being able to see Aubrey as a lightweight. It honestly strikes Beca as a bit of a surprise that the uptight girl even drinks.

Aubrey and Jesse begin discussing something that Beca can't quite make out. She hears the name Wes Anderson and then the words score and cinematography. She assumes they are talking about some movie that Jesse likes and is glad that Aubrey appears to be able to hold a conversation on the subject. Usually Beca just sits there nodding and grunting while day dreaming. The brunette looks around the table, happy to see everyone is loosening up. Some of it can be attributed to finally being free from the car, but Beca knows it's mostly because of the alcohol coursing through them.

Chloe makes sure that everyone's glass is constantly full, while she herself is drinking everyone under the table. Aubrey is four glasses in when Chloe exclaims, "I'm going to put our names in for karaoke Bree!"

Chloe and Aubrey have already gone through one pitcher and are working their way through their second. Beca is amazed that the two girls are going drink for drink with her and Jesse, especially since the margaritas have a higher alcohol content. However, Beca has definitely had more than her fare share tonight and is definitely feeling it.

"Whoooo!" Aubrey yells, throwing her hands happily in the air. Beca begins cracking up, the blonde's reaction seeming ten times funnier to her then it probably would normally.

"What's so funny Alt-girl?" Aubrey teases with a very slight slur. Beca can't sense a bit of malice in the blondes tone, which may be a first.

"You are." Beca replies continuing to laugh and then Jesse also joins in. By the end of it, they are all in fits, laughing at something they can't even remember.

"I want to thank you all for coming tonight." They hear Chloe's voice echoing through the bar. There are a few people who clap at her statement. Chloe raises her hand, almost comically, to hush the crowd, as if the whole place had erupted in to cheers. "Now, I want to bring my best friend in the whole wide world on stage to help me with this. Aubrey Posen, get your hot ass up here." Chloe says, and Beca starts to laugh again. The redhead is more than clearly drunk.

Aubrey jumps out of her seat and walks up towards the stage. On her way she turns to a table mouthing 'that's me' and pointing to herself. Jesse and Beca turn to each other and start laughing harder. Chloe sticks out her hand and somehow manages to help the blonde on to the stage with her. She hands Aubrey the other mic.

"Ok so we are going to be performing our rendition of Gloria Estefan's, Turn the Beat Around." Chloe says and Beca can hear Aubrey give a countdown. The music begins and Chloe and Aubrey start their performance. The whole thing is choreographed and everyone is hooting and hollering at it. The girls are harmonizing so perfectly that Beca is in honestly shocked. Chloe takes the final high note and hits it flawlessly. When their song ends, the entire bar is on their feet, giving them a standing ovation.

"We know them!" Jesse yells to the table next to him and then returns to cheering.

"Thank you, Thank you!" Aubrey says into the mic, bowing.

Chloe simply holds the mic out in front of her and then drops it. It makes a horrendous squeaking noise, but everyone just cheer louder. Aubrey hurriedly picks up Chloe's mic and puts it back in the stand, her controlling nature taking over.

The duo hop off the stage hand in hand and Chloe skips back, dragging Aubrey along with her. Once they approach the table, Chloe looks at Beca smiling. "How was that for a performance?"

"I'm impressed Red. I didn't know you had all that in you." Beca replies honestly. She had decided to stop drinking, not wanting to become too sloppy. Beca didn't like to get too drunk. It made her vulnerable, and she never opted to do something that makes her that.

"Oh there are a lot of things you don't know about me, brown." Chloe offers up, with a wink. The redhead is definitely feeling all those margaritas she drank on an empty stomach.

"We'll work on nicknames later Ms. Drunky Pants." Beca replies, slightly taken aback by the girls flirty pass. She chalks it up to the margaritas, and the bubbly girl's friendly nature.

"Becaw, Becaw!" Jesse yells to his friend, trying to get her attention. Beca rolls her eyes, knowing he is officially drunk. That's his favorite way to call her name when he's had a few too many.

"What Jesse?" Beca asks, slight annoyance creeping into her voice because he's interrupting her conversation with Chloe.

"You should get up there and perform! Like you used to senior year of high school when you drank too many Smirnoff Ices and Titanium would come on at a party." Jesse urges, knowing that Beca will be embarrassed by that part of her past being brought up. There was a time in Beca's life when she was a little less pessimistic, before everything happened. She would sometimes make a fool of herself, on a few occasions when she went to a party and got drunk.

"Not going to happen Swanson." She replies and he laughs, saying something along the line of I told you so to Aubrey.

"Can you sing Beca?" Chloe asks after Beca and Jesse finish their conversation.

"Nope." Beca replies quickly, trying to completely avoid the subject. She doesn't like to singing in front of other people. There is something vulnerable and intimate about singing for her; she doesn't like to share it in front of a bunch of strangers.

"Will you sing for me sometime?" Chloe asks innocently.

"No."

"Please, Beca." Chloe whines, and Beca finds herself beginning to give into the redhead. Knowing the drunk ginger will not give up her persistence on the matter, and that Beca can't seem to say no to Chloe again, she relents.

"Sometime."

"So does that mean you guys are coming back with us?" Chloe asks excitedly. The petite woman has no idea where that question came from, or where back even is. However, with the amount Chloe has had to drink, Beca doesn't even want to try and figure it out. Truth be told, Beca hasn't put much thought into where she and Jesse are going to end up. She also hasn't even thought about where their journey ends with the two new girls.

"Uh, I don't know, Chloe. We haven't really thought about it." Beca replies awkwardly, not knowing how to address the situation. She hadn't really been officially invited past the point they are at now and Beca has never been one to impose. Unless she has a formal verbal invite, she does not participate.

"I like it better when you call me nicknames." A very drunken Chloe pouts. It makes Beca laugh because she has a theory that when people get drunk, they revert back to acting like kids. They have no control over their emotions and they talk loudly, especially when speaking whatever inappropriate things come to their minds. The redhead in front of her is no different, arms folded across her chest and bottom lip pushed out.

"Ok, Little Einstein, what are you six?" Beca asks.

"Oh can I be that one that sings all the time?" Chloe asks excitedly, forgetting that she was upset in the slightest.

"What? Yah, sure." Beca replies, having no idea what she is talking about. Of course she knows what The Little Einstein's is, but just enough for reference sake, not for bringing up specific details.

Noticing Beca's confusion, Chloe gets nervous. She doesn't want Beca to think she sits around watching kid shows, but she doesn't want to bring up the reason she knows them so well. Feeling that the need to explain herself outweighs the need to keep her memories at bay, Chloe offers up her explanation. "Younger brother."

Beca notices how the redhead's voice has lost its usual bubbliness and the spark has left her eyes. She hears pain in Chloe's words instead and doesn't know how to respond. The girl had been so happy but now, she looks on the verge of tears. There's a complexity to the statement that the redhead just made, and it is too much for Beca's drunk mind to process. She doesn't know whether to ask Chloe what's wrong, or just leave her be. She doesn't even know what made the ginger sad. The brunette is trying to think of something to say right when the food arrives.

"Holy shit Jesse, there's no way you're going to be able to eat all of that." Chloe yells, trying to hide her pain from the tongue-tied Beca, feeling awkward. Chloe knows that Beca picked up on her sadness, and she is going to try double time to make the brunette forget.

Beca looks on as the group eats their food and teases each other, but mostly she observes Chloe. The redhead seems to be smiling larger, making sure to laugh at everything the loudest and to throw attention to other people in the group. It's very clearly an act, one that the ginger is very familiar with. There is much more to the redhead then Beca originally thought, but that doesn't make her like her any less.

After what feels like an eternity of Jesse complaining and grumbling, everyone finishes their food. To the group's genuine surprise, Jesse manages to eat all his burger in under the allotted time. Beca chalks it up to his insanely high metabolism and he gets his picture taken and put on the wall.

"A free burger and forever commemorated on the wall of fame, life doesn't get any better." Jesse yells once they get outside. Beca is at the rear of the group, waiting for Chloe who decided to strike up a conversation with the waitress. The fresh, brisk air hits Beca's face and sobers her up slightly. She is easily the least inebriated, but that is not saying much. Chloe finally stumbles out and they begin their drunken stagger back to the hotel. Jesse and Aubrey are leaning heavily on each other for support and Beca is helping Chloe, who is insisting on playing R. Kelly's 'Remix to Ignition' on repeat until they get back to the hotel.

"You're weird, you know that?" Beca asks, smiling at a rapping Chloe halfway through the walk.

"It's the remix to ignition, hot and fresh out the kitchen," Is Chloe's only response as she holds her phone up even higher in the air. Beca just laughs and continues to usher the redhead long, arm around her waist, making sure she doesn't stroll off. She could definitely get used to having Chloe around. Beca didn't like many people, but somehow the redhead had already managed to make the small list of people who she did.

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 **Sorry for the extremely late update! I will try to be more frequent with the rest of the chapters! Thank you all so much for the kind reviews!**


	4. Chapter 4

Beca is pulled from her sleep by the sound of footsteps. She opens her eyes slightly, expecting to be hit with light from the window. However, there is no sun peeking into the room. Confused as to what time it is, she steals a glance at the clock. It reads 5:27 in big, red, blocky numbers. They have been back from the bar for almost five hours and Beca is baffled that any member of her group would be capable of rising before noon.

She hears light snoring next to her, and knows it's not Jesse who woke her up. She turns her head, wincing at the slight pain that's beginning to form in it. The hangover hasn't hit quite yet, but Beca can already tell it's going to be a rough day. With only the street lamp shining dull, distilled light through the curtains, it takes a few seconds for Beca to make out the figure in the bed. Aubrey, Beca deduces.

Looking towards the window, Beca sees the person who woke her up. Chloe is staring out the window aimlessly. The light from outside is hitting her fair face, and Beca can see it's uncharacteristically void of expression. Normally, Beca would compare the redhead's complexion to that of porcelain. Pale, maybe; beautiful, absolutely. However, Chloe is not her usual pale. She appears ghostly, and the look she holds in her eyes is haunting. They appear dull; void of their normal spark. They look as if she is not actually in her body; that she is somewhere else, thousands of miles away.

Almost mechanically, Chloe walks away from the window and to her luggage. She slips out of the mismatched pair of pajamas she managed to throw on in her drunken state, and into an over-sized long-sleeved t-shirt accompanied with yoga pants and running shoes.

Beca looks away for this part, not wanting to invade the redhead's privacy. She debates saying something to the ginger, but decides not to, afraid of startling her. Chloe looks over to her own bed, eyes resting on Aubrey. She studies the blonde and when the girl mumbles something in her sleep, Chloe heads for the door, assured that her friend will not wake up.

Confident she won't be followed, Beca thinks to herself. Once she hears the door close, Beca debates falling back asleep. She can see Chloe wants to be alone, why should Beca rob her of that? However, remembering the look in the redhead's eyes, Beca throw off her covers. Beca has no doubt that Chloe can handle herself, but she doesn't think she wants to test that theory.

Getting up, Beca quietly riffles through her bag, finding an old hoodie that belonged to her father and a pair of baggy sweatpants. She throws them on over her holed t-shirt and boy shorts, then heads for the door. She makes sure to close it gently and takes a wild stab as to where she thinks Chloe might be going. In a matter of minutes, Beca is standing in the lobby.

"How can I help ya?" The woman behind the desk asks, looking up from her nail file as Beca approaches. There is no perkiness in the lady's voice and the fake smile the woman gives Beca isn't very convincing. She is obviously tired, her grave yard shift close to ending.

"Yah, um, have you seen a girl go through here, about yea tall," Beca motions with her hand estimating the height, "with red hair?"

"She walked through here a couple of minutes ago, went outside." The concierge replies, focusing back on her nails.

"Thanks." Beca huffs walking towards the door.

Once she's outside, the brisk morning air makes her glad for her heavy layers of clothing. Looking down the street, she sees a figure in the distance. The person is walking slowly, kicking rocks. Beca wouldn't be able to mistake that red hair anywhere, even if she tried. Thankful she took the time to put tennis shoes on, Beca begins a slow jog towards the girl.

"I'm fine Aubrey. Just go back to bed." The redhead mumbles when she hears Beca approach. The voice doesn't even sound like it belongs to Chloe. There's no bubbliness, but there's no sadness either. It's emotionless.

"What if I told you I wasn't Aubrey?" Beca questions, and Chloe whips around. Her eyes are wide with surprise, however, the emotion doesn't seem to reach them. They are standing under the light of a street lamp, which is hitting their faces, casting shadows on their features. "Beca I-I didn't…"

"And what if I told you that I don't think you look 'fine'?" Beca presses, searching the beautiful girl's icy blue eyes, looking for something, anything.

"Then I'd tell you that you were wrong." Chloe shoots back, lowering her eyes to focus on her feet.

"And if I didn't believe you?"

"Well, then I'd say that you're a lot smarter then I gave you credit for, Beca." Chloe jokes looking up and attempting a convincing smile.

Beca lets out a short laugh and replies, "What'd you think, I was all brawn and no brain, Beale?"

"Something like that." Chloe smirks, and it takes everything in Beca not to forget the task at hand. The look Chloe is giving her is so distracting, but she does her best to ignore it.

"So, why are you up so early?"

"I could ask you the same question. Are you planning on robbing a bank or just having a standard Rocky workout montage?" The redhead shoots back, turning on the heals of her shoes and walking again. She want's nothing more to put distance between her and the nosy brunette.

"Wow, you're really trying to change the subject." Beca replies, but looks down self-consciously at her outfit of choice when she sees Chloe isn't looking. Touché, she thinks to herself.

"And is it working?"

"Not at all." Beca says, quickening her pace so she is next to the redhead again. They continue like that for a minute, and the silence hangs in the air. "So are you going to answer my question?"

"I couldn't sleep," Chloe says absentmindedly, her voice sounds distant even though she is right next to Beca. "Bad dream, you know, the usual cliché."

"I'm taking it you don't want to talk about it?" Beca asks, not wanting to press. She's worried about Chloe, but she doesn't want the girl to push her away before she can help. A part of Beca wants to laugh. She's known this girl for less than a day and here she is, worrying about and trying to comfort her. Beca usually tries to avoid these kinds of things at all costs, but with Chloe, it just feels different.

"Not really, but I will. If you promise me something first."

"What's that?"

"Don't tell Aubrey. She worries too much as it is; I don't want to add anything to her plate." Chloe request eyes trained on the rock she is kicking.

"My lips are sealed. This is your confessional and I'm your priest for all extensive purposes."

"Thanks Beca." Chloe laughs and looks up at the brunette with a ghost of a smile.

"So what's up?"

"Oh, what a very priestly way to begin this." Chloe jokes. Beca just raises her eyebrows, giving her a knowing look. The message is clear, she knows Chloe is trying to stall and that it's not going to work.

Letting out a sigh, Chloe says, "It's complicated." The ginger looks like she's mulling over things, trying to figure out how to word everything. Her face finally sets and she begins. "I guess- I guess it's because I have all this power, but I don't like using them. They're too dark. I can manipulate people, make their worst fears become reality."

"So that's what you did them, the ones we were fighting." Beca mumbles.

"Yah, and you saw them. I broke them, and when I'm using my power, it's like it's not really me using it. I have to take a back seat in my own mind to be able to do the things I do. It's like my body just goes into auto-pilot. I always dream about the people I hurt, the terrified look in their eyes, their pained faces." Beca doesn't know what to say. Her powers are strictly brute force, and the people that she hurts will usually be healed in 6-8 weeks. She's never messed with someone's psyche, she doesn't know how to respond, how to address the situation.

However, Beca knows that Chloe saved her life in that fight. Those people would be doing god know what to her at this very moment if the redhead hadn't stepped in and used her powers. That is what Beca needs to focus on, what she needs to use to talk down the girl. "Chloe, they were't good people. I understand you feel bad about it but,"

Beca is interrupted by the hollow laugh Chloe lets out. There is no sense of lightheartedness in it. It is bitter, and filled with spite. "I don't feel bad. I can't bring myself to feel sorry for what I've done, for what I do, when using my ability. I have broken people, caused them to never be the same, and I feel nothing. I try to make myself care, and that's the problem. I just don't."

Beca doesn't know what to say. She doesn't know how to respond. Beca has always seen the world as a dog eat dog place, and when she needs to be the dog, she is. She's never felt sorry for that, but a part of her has always felt pity for the people she's hurt in the process. However, she doesn't know if that makes her any less accountable for her actions. If you do something, and then have remorse for it after, does it change the fact that you did it in the first place?

"Does that make me a monster Beca?" Chloe questions, though she doesn't sound sad. She sounds as casual as a stranger asking how your day is.

"Chloe…" Beca starts, but the rest of her words get caught in her throat. She is at a complete loss. She doesn't know how to answer. She simply looks at Chloe, and studies her features. Her ice blue eyes reflect the light from the street lamp, her fiery red hair frames her face in perfect waves, and her beautiful features are being lit up by small rays of the rising morning sun peaking over the mountains that surround the city. Her appearance is angelic, and her face is kind.

"You don't look like a monster to me Chloe Beale." Beca says quietly, and the redhead's eyes seem to light up a little bit. Beca doesn't know if she's ever been more grateful to see someone express some form of emotion in her life.

"Beca, why did you follow me? Why do you care?" Chloe asks after a few long seconds of them staring at each other. They stopped walking minutes through their conversation, and they stand inches away from each other. Beca wants nothing more than to close the space between them, tuck the stray pieces of hair falling into the redhead's eyes away, and tell her the real reason. However, she doesn't, she can't.

Beca shrugs her shoulders, and looks away from the redheads gaze. It's not normal to feel as strongly as she does for someone she's just met. This isn't right, this isn't her. Beca doesn't believe in love at first sight, she never has. However, Chloe is making her question everything and she doesn't know how she feels about that. "I don't know. I just do."

"Well thank you." Chloe says. The smile she sends Beca does not have the usual perkiness behind it. However, it's not completely expressionless either. It's the kind of smile that says, she'll be better, she just need a little time.

"I'm not sure I did anything to help you, but you're welcome." The brunette replies honestly, holding the redhead's eyes with her own. God she's beautiful, Beca thinks to herself, as she tries, to no avail, to avert her gaze.

"You listened; you didn't judge me. Sometimes, that's all someone needs." Chloe replies. "You'd make a shit priest though." She adds giggling and looping her arm through Beca's. Beca is astonished by the miraculous recovery the girl has made. It brings her back to last night, when Chloe put on that mask . She had noted that the redhead seemed experienced in it, and now, Beca can see why.

"Damn, well there go all my hopes and dreams." The petite brunette jokes. When Chloe laughs at Beca's comment, it doesn't sound as forced.

"And here I was thinking you'd want to be some kick ass DJ or music something." The redhead states. Beca is thrown off by her comment, and comes to a stop. Sure DJs kind of have a specific type of look, but Beca didn't know she fell that deeply into the stereotype. Unless Chloe used her powers on Beca. The prospect makes Beca's stomach turn. What else could Chloe know if she read her mind?

Reading Beca's face, Chloe knows what the brunette is probably thinking. "Don't worry, I didn't read your mind. I've never read your mind. I helped you guys load your stuff into Aubrey's car, remember? I saw your equipment." The redhead reassures.

"Oh, ok." Beca stutters, but knows she doesn't sound convincing. She has s hint of doubt in her voice that she tried to cover up but wasn't able to.

"You know, the only way this friendship is going to work out is if you trust me." Chloe adds in a sing song voice, her usual smile playing on her lips. Chloe has been good at reading people her whole life, but just about anyone could sense the distrust in Beca's voice.

"Oh so we're officially friends now?" Beca asks playfully, trying to cover up her mistake, embarrassed about being called out on it.

"Oh tots, we're basically FBO." Chloe jokes.

"Cool, but I don't know about the FBO part. Facebook is like, soo last year." Beca says doing her best valley girl impression for the last part. They are nearing the hotel, and the sun has finally risen to a descent point in the sky. Arm in arm they walk towards the entrance.

"Beca, where are you going to go after this, after we check out today?" Chloe asks, her voice is serious, and her words carefully calculated. She sounds as if she has been debating asking the question for a while.

Beca deliberates the question for a second. She thinks about lying, saying a random destination, and making up how she and Jesse will get there. She doesn't know why, but she finds herself answering honestly.

"I, uhm, I don't know."

"Well, I'll have to ask Bree first but…you know what, screw it. You should come with us." Chloe says, unlooping her arm from Beca's, and then turning to face her. The small brunette stares at the redhead for a second. She takes in the genuinely excited look on the bubbly girls face.

"I-I can't, Chloe. I couldn't leave Jesse and then there's the fact that Aubrey doesn't exactly like me." Beca says. She wants nothing more than to say yes. She would follow the redhead anywhere as long as Chloe wanted her to. However, Jesse is Beca's best friend and she can't imagine herself going anywhere without him.

"oh, well he can come too." Chloe adds, her excitement replaced with a resolve, the kind that wouldn't take no for an answer.

Beca thinks for a second and then finally asks, "So where would we be coming with you to?"

"Somewhere where you won't have to hide. A place where there are people like us. A place that's safe." Chloe responds. Beca hasn't heard the word safe in months. The notion of being safe is a concept that Beca had completely given up on. She has always thought that she and Jesse would spend the remainder of their lives, however long, running. What Chloe is offering Beca is too good to be true.

"That's not possible." Beca says quietly looking away. She wants desperately to believe the ginger, but can't bring herself to.

Chloe looks at Beca with sympathy. She can see the conflicting emotions Beca is facing just by looking at her. She reaches out and touches the brunettes shoulder, comfortingly. It's Chloe's turn to pay back the favor.

Beca feels the redhead's hand on her shoulder. She can feel the butterflies in her stomach that happen whenever Chloe touches her. She tries to remind herself that she is badass Beca Mitchell, and she doesn't gets butterflies. But here she is, melting at just the simple touch of the redhead.

"You guys are not the only people who've been running from the GPA. Not the first people we've brought back with us. I can't give you a 100% guarantee of safety, but we protect each other." Chloe says, and puts a finger underneath Beca's chin. She raises the girls face to look at her. Chloe is just inches away. Beca can see that same resolve in Chloe's eyes as before, the determination. For the first time, in a long time, Beca feels safe. She believes the redhead and what she has promised.

"I don't know, it sounds a little cultish, Red." Beca cracks, smiling at Chloe. The redhead laughs and then quickly removes her hand from under the brunettes chin, realizing how intimate the gesture is.

"I'll tell you what, you come with us and I swear I won't make you drink the Kool Aid." Chloe replies with a smile and a wink.

"Well in that case." Beca says with a laugh and roll of her eyes.

"So is that a yes?"

"I-I don't know, maybe. So, what's GPA? I'm assuming you're not talking about grades." Beca says. She wonders if that who's been after her. Does Chloe know them? Can she answer all the questions that have been running through Beca's head for months?

"I'll tell you everything if you come with us. I'm sure that between all of us back at the house, we'll be able to answer every question you could possibly have. Please Beca." Chloe pleads grabbing Beca's hands. They feel soft in Beca's slightly rough palms and the brunette feels her own tingle at the touch.

"OK." Beca replies. She knows she shouldn't be making the decision so quickly, especially without even asking Jesse first. She just can't help it.

Chloe squeals audibly and drops Beca's hands. The next thing she knows, the redhead has her in a tight hug. "You're not one for personal space are you?" Beca asks, arms remaining at her sides.

"Nope!" Chloe replies happily and releases the brunette. "OK, I'll talk to Aubrey and you talk to Je…"

"Talk to Aubrey about what?" Chloe is interrupted by the voice of her best friend, who is standing in the doorway of the entrance to the hotel. The blonde's arms are folded, and she looks less than thrilled to see Beca standing outside with Chloe.

"Bree, I was just…" Chloe start before she is interrupted yet again Aubrey.

"Trying to scare me half to death Chloe? Because if you were, mission accomplished. I mean you did a really great job." Aubrey says, her voice dripping with anger. However there's a slight hint of relief creeping into her words.

"Bree," Chloe says, walking over to Aubrey and reaching out to her friend. The blonde quickly shrugs the girl off her. "Don't 'Bree' me. Here I am, worrying someone's kidnapped you or god knows what, but really you're just out taking a morning stroll with _her._ " There is so much hatred in the way the blonde refers to Beca, and it makes her want to squirm when the uptight girl's gaze is shifted to her. However, Beca's refuses to let Aubrey know that.

"Look, I didn't do anything and I don't understand the problem with Chloe, a grown adult, going for a walk."

"I don't think I was talking to you hobbit." Aubrey seethes, taking a step closer the the petite brunette.

"You really don't like me, do you?"

"I don't like your attitude."

"You don't even know me." Beca says laughing. She has had enough with the blonde. She is already beginning to regret her decision to go with them.

"I know that you have a toner for-"

"Aubrey that's enough." Chloe yells, silencing her friend. "This isn't Beca's fault. You know I don't sleep well when I drink. I went for a walk, but I accidentally woke Beca up on my way out. She didn't want me go alone, so she came with me." Chloe says defending Beca. Most of what Chloe says is a lie, but the blonde seems to fall for it easily. Her angry gaze softens slightly towards Beca, but there's still malice behind it.

"You could've at least left me a note Chloe."

"I know that was my bad Bree. Don't be mad at Beca for it."

"I'm just glad you're ok." Aubrey mumbles. Beca is thankful for Chloe taking Aubrey's attention off her.

"Now, I think you owe Beca an apology." Chloe says and then adds, "Especially since I invited her to come back with us." The last sentence is said so quietly and fast, that Beca can barely make it out.

The blonde begins to state that she will not be apologizing to Beca when what her best friend just said sinks in. "You what?" Aubrey screams. Beca is thankful that she isn't in Chloe's shoes as the blonde releases all the worry and stress she has been feeling into one angry rant.

"I'm just going to go to the room and let you guys talk this out." Beca says. Both the girls are too preoccupied to realize that the person the whole fight is about, is saying something. "Okay? Okay." Beca adds, walking into the lobby and then to the elevator. How those two girls are best friends still baffles Beca as she hears their argument flow all the way through the lobby and to her.

"She a little alternative for us Chloe! Did you see her ear monstrosities?" Beca rolls her eyes as the elevator doors shut. What have I gotten myself into? She thinks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer** **: I own nothing.**

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Beca sits in their hotel room with her Bose headphones on, trying to find new music to put with her mix. For Beca, the hardest part of creating music has always been finding songs. She is very particular as to what she chooses, and every aspect has to be just right. The lyrics, the beat, the base to treble ratio; it all has to be exactly how she envisions it.

Right when she thinks she has found the perfect song to go with her baseline, the audio drum loop takes a weird turn that last only seconds, but to Beca it has ruined the whole song. In anger, she rips off her headphones and tosses them next to her. She lets out a loud sigh and falls dramatically backwards, onto the bed she is sitting on.

"Uh-oh, Beca smash." Jesse jokes knowing exactly why Beca is so angry. He has hung out with his friend through more mix sessions than he can count. She always has the same reaction when a song she thinks she likes takes a turn she doesn't.

Beca lightly throws the pillow that is directly above her head, at Jesse. He dodges it easily and then in a flash gets up and catches it before it can even hit the ground. Beca groans, "I can't even throw a pillow right."

"Whoa, hold up there, Miss Teen Angst. You threw a pillow half assed at someone with super speed. Did you expect to hit me?"

Beca rises into a sitting position and shrugs her shoulders. "You could've let it hit you." Having a friend that's inhumanly fast can have its ups, but it can also have its downs as well.

"I could've but why would I do that?"

"Because you're my best friend and you love me?" Beca states, matching her tone to be questioning like Jesse's was.

Jesse tosses the pillow back onto the bed and then walks over to Beca. He plops down next to her and slings his arm over her shoulder. "Ok, well asking as your loving best friend, are you going to tell me what's up with you?"

"You know how I get when people ruin a potentially perfect song Jesse." Beca says half-lying. She is pissed about the song, but that is just the straw that broke the camel's back. Chloe and Aubrey have been gone for over an hour and a half and Beca hasn't heard a word from the bubbly redhead. Everyone had swapped numbers last night before going to the bar just in case someone got lost from the group. Beca has been waiting for a text from Chloe to tell her what was taking them so long.

"Don't bullshit me Beca. You never get this mad over a mix."

Sighing in defeat, Beca decided the come clean about the whole Chloe situation. "Ok so you know how Chloe is basically a perfect human being?"

Jesse smiles at the thought of the hot redhead and nods his head. "Yah I may have noticed once or twice."

"Well, I may, kind of, possibly be in love with her." Beca mumbles as quickly as she can.

Jesse removes his arm from around Beca's shoulder and scoots away from her slightly so he is facing her. His eyes are wide with shock and his jaw is set firmly. He looks like he is about to say something but holds it in for a second.

"I know it sounds crazy but…"

"Not crazy Beca, insane. At least, coming from you it does." Jesse says, and Beca can't decide if she detects anger or shock in his voice.

"Well maybe love is a little extreme but I definitely feel something! Something strong."

Jesse sits there for a minute, staring at his best friend. Beca doesn't _love_ anyone, well besides him and her dad but that is different. Beca has never opened herself up to the prospect of a romantic relationship with anyone and hearing her say this kind of stuff is more than a little surprising to Jesse. The fact that he has an attraction to the girl as well doesn't help either.

"Awe come on Becs, do dibs mean nothing to you?" He says only half joking. He wants to be happy for his friend for finally being emotionally vulnerable, but wishes it isn't with someone that he has a crush on too.

She punches him lightly and looks down at her hands. "I open myself up like this for the first time in my whole life and this is how you're going to act Jesse?"

"I'm kidding, well kind of but whatever. If you think you like her as much you claim then I relinquish my dibs to you."

"Fuck the dibs Jesse! I just said I think I'm in love with a girl I barely know! You know what, scratch that, a girl I don't know at all! What is wrong with me?" Beca exclaims, looking to Jesse to help her understand.

"Look, you and I both know I've been in your situation. Granted the girl ended up being a lesbian and turned into my best friend, but I know what you're talking about." Jesse says smiling at Beca, recalling when he had met her freshman year of high school.

"Then why am I insane for thinking I'm in love when you thought you were in love at first sight too?"

"Well, A. I realized that I was mistaking us clicking for me thinking I was in love and B. the reason this is insane for you is because you're Beca Mitchell and you don't fall in love or have strong feelings, or whatever you decide this is, for anyone!" Jesse responds.

"So you think I'm mistaking my feelings for more than they are?" Beca asks.

"No I think you're definitely in love with her, which is a concept that I find impossible to fathom."

"Why, because it's not you?" Beca teases, lightly shoving Jesse with her shoulders and he chuckles, rolling his eyes.

"Look I was over you like a month after I humiliated myself by professing my love. That was well over eight years ago anyways, I've more than moved on."

Beca laughs and tries not to be amazed by how long ago freshman year of high school was. "Please Jesse, you were over me a minute after I shot you down because big tits Tori Belker said hi to you when she walked past us."

Jesse's lips curl into a smile at the thought of one of his many exes. While he has never been considered the hottest guy in the room, he is definitely not bad looking and has a charisma and charm that most girls find irresistible. Plus the fact that he is a genuinely nice guy never hurts his case.

"Ok, so what else is bothering you?" Jesse asks trying to get back on topic. He can tell there is something else and he'll be damned if he'll let Beca not tell him.

"What if they left us and I never see her again? What if Aubrey convinced her not to bring us with them?" Beca blurts, surprising herself with how easily her concerns slip from her mouth.

Jesse laughs and Beca scowls at him. "Wow, you've got it bad Rebecca Mitchell. But to answer your question," Jesse reaches for his phone and pulls up a message from Aubrey. He shoves it in front of Beca's face and it reads: We went to get coffee to try to help with our damn hangovers, you want anything?

Beca lets out a breath and realizes how truly affected she was by the prospect of never seeing Chloe again. "Wait why did you get a text and I didn't?" Beca asks realizing she has been left out and trying not to feel hurt. Beca knows she is acting like an annoying love struck pre-teen, but she just can't help it.

"Because," Jesse says grabbing the phone off the bed next to Beca, "You always turn your phone on Airplane mode before you start mixing." He quickly unlocks her phone, turns it off airplane mode and tosses it to her. Beca is embarrassed that she completely forgot that she did that and has been checking it every five minutes for the past hour, hoping for a text.

The phone buzzes in her hand and she reads the newly received message. It was sent 45 minutes ago and reads: Hey Beca! We're going to find a Starbucks because Aubrey refuses to drink the hotel coffee and won't stop bitching about her hangover. I'll pick you up one and if you don't want it I guess I'll make the sacrifice and drink yours too. ;) Oh and pack your bags aca-bitches, you guys are officially coming with us!

"Well now I feel dumb." Beca says a little embarrassed.

Jesse smiles at Beca slinging his arm back over Beca's shoulders and teases, "I'm just glad my little robot's finally starting to express human emotion!"

"Shut up."

"So when do the slumber parties start where we pine over our crushes and eat our feelings in ice cream?"

"Seriously Jesse I'm really going to throw a pillow at you and this time you're not being able to doge it!" Beca threatens. While a pillow is simply a pillow, with Beca throwing it full speed, he can easily break a bone if he doesn't doge it in time. Right before he's about to tell her there's no way she'd do it, the door opens and Aubrey and Chloe walk in.

Aubrey looks uncharacteristically not put together. She has a dark pair of expensive looking sunglasses perched on top of her slightly tangled hair. She is wearing a simple mint green sweatshirt that reads "Princeton Tigerlilies's Give Back" with some charity or community service project that Jesse is unfamiliar with splayed across her chest. Her look is completed with a pair of calf-length black yoga pants. Even though her look is just thrown together, Jesse can't seem to keep himself from staring. Memories of their conversations seep into his conscious from last night and he remembers how much they talked about and have in common. When Aubrey's blue-green eyes meet his he quickly looks over to Chloe, hoping she will think he was ogling at her best friend and not her.

"Are you two ready or what?" Aubrey asks, annoyance clear in her voice. Chloe is behind her with four Starbucks cups in a carrier and a smile on her face that would light up the whole room even if the lights were off. Beca can feel her heart start beating faster when Chloe's eyes fall on hers and the redhead starts walking to her.

"It's black but we have sugar and cream if you want some!" Chloe says, handing Beca one of the cups. The brunette girl takes it and thanks her. While she absolutely despises coffee, Chloe got it for her and there is no way that she is going tell the redhead she doesn't want it.

They finish the rest of their packing and then head down to check out. Chloe is walking with Aubrey, giggling at something the blonde just said. Beca is just looking at Chloe, taking in every perfect aspect of the redhead. Even the way Chloe giggles is like music to Beca's ears.

"Wow Mitchell, you've got it bad." Jesse says quietly to Beca. The two friends are walking a decent distance behind their new companions.

Beca rolls her eyes at Jesse and takes a sip of her coffee. The bitter drink is hot and burns her tongue on the way down. Beca wishes she could protest and tell Jesse that she, in fact, does not, but unfortunately he's right. Rebeca Mitchell is utterly transfixed by the beautiful redheaded conundrum that is Chloe Beale.

* * *

Beca finds herself staring out the window in the back seat of a car yet again. She notes how every field looks identical and how instead of corn, they pass cotton now. They are in the Deep South, the change in crops and the big sign that says Welcome to Tennessee is enough to confirm this.

"But Bree I really need to go to the bathroom." Chloe pleads from the front seat for the fifth time in the past hour.

"But Chlo I really told you not to drink the whole Rout 44 sweat tea you got from Sonic."

Beca snorts at the blonde's statement. Aubrey sounds just like a mom chastising her child. If Beca were in Chloe's position, she would have snapped at Aubrey and told her to loosen up. Then she would proceed to bitch her out until Aubrey drove her to a gas station so she could use the damn bathroom. However, Chloe just smiles at her friend and apologizes sarcastically on behalf of her bladder.

"I'm not mad Chloe." Aubrey replies to the redhead.

"Yah, she's just disappointed." Beca throws in jokingly. Jesse and Chloe laugh at her joke and Aubrey cuts her eyes at the brunette through the rear-view mirror. Even though she may have made Aubrey dislike her even more, hearing Chloe laugh was worth it.

"Thank you for that Beca." Aubrey says not letting up on the glare she is sending the DJs way. "I need gas anyways, we'll stop at the Pilot coming up.

Chloe pumps her fist when she hears the gas station they are pulling off at and throws in a childish yes for good measure. Beca stares at the redhead confused for a second before Chloe notices.

"Pilots always have the cleanest bathrooms." Chloe clarifies, smiling at the petite brunette. Beca just rolls her eyes, smiling at the redhead. Chloe smiles back and the turns around, singing to whatever old throwback song Aubrey requested Chloe play a couple of minutes ago.

Beca looks over to Jesse and sees that he is looking at her with one of his usual smirks. He looks from Beca to Chloe and then raises his eyebrows up and down at her. For good measure, he throws in a couple of kissy faces and if it isn't for the fact that Beca is giving him the most threatening look she can, she is sure he would start singing the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song.

He just laughs at her and goes back to staring out of his side of the window, sneaking glances at Aubrey whenever he can. When he tries to look at her through the rearview mirror, he notices that the same black Escalade has been following them for the past hour. It has kept pace with them, not wanting to pass and not falling behind even though Aubrey is driving insanely fast. He is about to tack it up to a weird coincidence; however, when the blonde driver puts her blinker on, so does the car behind them.

Aubrey pulls off at some small town that looks as if the main attractions are the Sonic and Super Wal-Mart, with the black Escalade in tow. The gas station is only a few seconds off the highway and they are there within seconds of their exit. It's surprisingly crowded, littered with 18-Wheelers and truckers. They pull into the fueling station and their companion car opts to park in one of the parking places outside the front entrance of the store component of the station.

"I'll be back." Chloe says before quickly jumping out the passenger's seat and practically running towards the bathrooms.

"Wait!" Jesse half-yells but Chloe is already too far away to hear him.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Aubrey asks looking slightly annoyed at the speedster. The loudness of his voice had startled her and she wants to know why he felt the need to do that.

"Yah Jesse what gives? Some of us are attempting to sleep." Though Beca had only just closed her eyes she had felt herself already drifting into unconsciousness.

"There was a car-" Jesse starts but stops, scared he might just be paranoid. "You know what, it's nothing." He finishes, deciding that he is probably just on edge because of their last gas station stop.

"No way Swanson, spill. Why did you feel the need to wake me up and scare the grandma up there?"

Jesse looks up at the parked car that had been following them and sees a man's face in the side mirror. It's a face he couldn't forget even if he wants to, and god he wants to. The man has dark black hair that contrasts his pale skin. However, most notably, he has the strongest jaw line that Jesse has ever seen. That's when he knows. It's the same man that Beca tried to describe to him when she came to him drenched and sobbing on that rainy Thursday evening. The same man she tries to describe to him after he wakes her up from her nightmares. The same man who attacked them at the gas station, the same man that almost managed to kidnap his best friend. The same man that he hates with every fiber of his being.

"We need to leave." Jesse says his tone so serious that Beca's head snaps up from the phone in her lap to look at him. His face is expressionless and his eyes shine with anger. Beca has never seen him like this before. Not once in their entire nine years of friendship has he ever looked like he does in this moment and she hopes he never will again.

"Yah, I don't think so. I don't plan on breaking down on the side of the road again so I think instead of leaving I'm going to put gas in my car." Aubrey replies hotly through Beca's open window as she starts to fill the car up. Unlike Beca, she hasn't caught on to the change in Jesse.

"What is it Jesse?" Beca asks, trying to find the direction where his eyes are looking. They finally rest on the same black car her best friend is staring so intently at. She sees who he saw, fear and panic running rampart through her body now.

"Fuck." Beca mutters, mouth slightly open from pure shock. She has no idea how they managed to find them or if they even did in fact find them. If this is some weird twist of fate, Beca has had it with the unwanted ancient Grecian intervention.

Hearing what Beca just uttered, Aubrey looks up from the pump she just put in the car and to her two companions. She takes in Jesse's angry expression and Beca's look of pure fear, and doesn't exactly know what to think. Instead of trying to decipher it, she asks, "What the hell is wrong with you two?"

"They're here."

"Who's here Beca? What the…" Aubrey starts as she turns her head to look in the direction her two new friends are. Emerging from the big black Escalade is the same man who has been on her and Chloe's radar for years. Aubrey quickly uses her training and scans the area, cursing herself for not picking up on the fact that they were being followed the whole time. She quickly drops to her knees, the rough pavement scraping them in the process, and searches under the car. Finding a small chip that she knows is a tracker, Aubrey curses and yanks it out from under the bumper. She smashes it between her shoe and the pavement when she stands up.

"I am never stopping at another fucking gas station again." Aubrey mumbles as three men exit the car alongside the tall strong-jawed German. They are making no show of being conspicuous as they come into hearing range of the group, eyes trained on Aubrey. The man Chloe called Pieter says something in German and two of the men begin a slow walk towards the convenient store Chloe is in. Aubrey feels panic creeping in, knowing if they catch Chloe off guard she won't stand a chance.

"Beca what did he say?" Jesse asks quickly.

"I don't know!"

"Beca you took four years of German in high school!"

"That was like five years ago Jesse!"

"What did he say Beca?" Aubrey seethes angrily, desperate to know anything that could possibly help them and hoping the sharpness of her tone will spur Beca into action.

"God give me a second."

"We don't have a second!"

To Beca's dismay Aubrey is right. They are getting closer and closer with every passing second. She thinks, trying to recall the basic vocab she learned. Finally the words fall into place and she has a general idea of what Pieter might have said. "Okay, I think he said something about wanting the red for studying and to do something with the rest of them. It was either take them somewhere or eat cake with them I don't know!" Beca yells frustrated.

"Well I don't think it's anyone's birthday Beca." Jesse says, staring at the people who are mere seconds away from them.

Making a quick decision, Aubrey raises her hand and puts every bit of energy she can into sending the men heading towards them sailing. They fly an insanely far distance and land around half a mile away in some dirt field. Aubrey slumps against the car, arms perched on Beca's open window, her breaths coming out in ragged gasps. She feels even more tired than she did right after she sprinted her 400m at state her senior year of high school.

"Dude are you ok?" Beca asks noting Aubrey's state. It's clear the blonde expended more energy than any one of them should and was clearly feeling the effects.

"Chloe" Aubrey huffs out and Beca realizes what the German had said, actually means. They just want to capture her, Aubrey, and Jesse and possible use them in their army or detain them so they don't start resisting. However, they want to study Chloe. They want to make her into a guinea pig. Before Beca can even think, her body is moving, climbing over Jesse and out of the car. Her legs are carrying her faster than she ever thought possible. They can't capture the redhead, and if it's up to Beca they won't even lay a hand on her. Ignoring Jesse's frantic yells, Beca heads to save her Chloe with resolve as strong as steal.

* * *

 **Hey so I know it's been a long time since I've updated! I've been very busy and have finally figured out where and when I can fit my writing in. To those of you who have reviewed, thank you so much for your kind words! For those of you who haven't, please do! Hope everyone enjoys this chapter, it's not what I had originally envisioned but a reviewer mentioned they wanted more action so I decided to go with it and set the scene up for it! If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I am more than open to them! I have a general direction but nothing's set in stone! Also as you may have noticed, I made it to where Aubrey and Chloe went to Princeton and through a littler research I just randomly picked a currently active female A cappella group there. Thanks again to all my readers and to those who have fav and followed! It means so much to me!**


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